Review of Sleepy Hollow (1999) by Meritcoba — 04 Jun 2020

Sleepy Hollow is often praised for its great visuals. It invokes a dark mood and gives a nod towards the way lighting was used in movies as the Third Man. Alas, the visuals take a backseat on the small screen of my laptop and brings in focus the story and characters. And the contrast is striking. The movie is filled with strong actors like John Gambon, Martin Landau and Jeffrey Jones. But there is hardly any acting by them as they are figures in landscapes, witnesses to Depp's antics and victims for the headless horseman.

Depp plays a young constable of a New York police force that did not exist for another fifty years and denounces police torture methods that were never tolerated(at least not until recently). He gets send to investigate strange beheadings in a remote village populated by yokels. He is the agent of modernity who is going to bring the light of reason to the outback. Or so you think.

But actually; no. Sleepy Hollow is like a slideshow: we move from one set to the other. Each scene is like a painting: well crafted with powerful lighting. Deliberate marvelous pieces. A girl dressed in all white on a white horse in a landscape of black leafless trees. A massive tree dominating the travellers, its branches clawing the dreary sky. A small town smothered by fog. An Inn full with bright colors, people, laughter and music.

But how do we get from one scene to the next? We use Depp. He meanders through the story: stumbles into caves, plunges into forests and trips over bodies. There is no investigation as such. He is just led on. When he gets stuck a witch tells him where to go next or a sidekick finds something and says: you have to see this, sir. And then he leads him to the scary tree and the girl in white tells you its name. It isn't a bad movie because even on my laptop it looks interesting, but it is evident that the story and characters are just there for the visuals. Pity, considering all the acting talent available.